The doctor who is the chairman of a national organization for Christian physicians and medical workers has resigned from the American Medical Association. Dr. David Stevens, the head of the 17,000-member Christian Medical Association, saysthe AMA has become a pro-abortion advocacy group.Stevens told LifeNews.com on Tuesday that he is canceling his membership in the American Medical Association as a way of publicly protesting what he says is the AMA’s control by special interests that do not represent most physicians.

The AMA has come under fire for endorsing healthcare overhaul legislation after closed-door negotiations with legislators even though it contains the largest expansion of abortion funding since Roe v. Wade.

“I can no longer associate with or support an organization that is unscientific, unprofessional and controlled by special interests,” Dr. Stevens asserted in a letter sent earlier this week to the AMA.

If you think Federal healthcare is A-OK if only we can block funding for abortion, think again. Sometimes we get so caught up in the battle over abortion funding that we forget what else is wrong. Consider, for example:

Other intrinsically immoral procedures;

Coercive participation in such procedures;

Violation of the principle of subsidiarity, to the detriment of human freedom, responsibility and dignity;

Serious economic danger, including piling up debt for the next generation;

Furious backroom negotiations and last-minute deals are putting enormous pressure on two key Democratic senators to end their opposition to health care reform and pass the Senate version by President Barack Obama's Christmas deadline. Both Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are the last public non-GOP holdouts to the current Senate legislation, but the latter has indicated he is now "ready" to vote for health care reform if Senate Democrats follow through on a deal that eliminates the government-insurance mandate.

Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic leaders signaled they would drop entirely the public option and the Medicare buy-in as part of a deal to get Lieberman's vote.

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who claims to be one of two pro-life Democrats in the Senate, made it appear today that he will likely vote for the Senate's government-run health care bill. He would do so despite the massive abortion funding found in the bill that could result in tax-funding of hundreds of thousands of abortions.

Casey voted for the Nelson amendment to remove the abortion funding, but said today after a White House meeting with President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats that the process needs to move forward.

Casey did not directly say he would vote for the bill, but his comments were the most forward-looking yet in terms of him giving an indication of how he will vote.

On a day when Democrats emerged triumphantly from a meeting with President Barack Obama appearing to have won the vote of Joe Lieberman for their pro-abortion health care bill, they may not be ready to celebrate yet. The Lieberman vote appeared to allow Democrats and Obama to secure 59 votes.

The only holdout left appeared to be pro-life Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska who says he won't vote for the bill because it funds abortions.

Political observers need to hang on to their hats because pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, ironically the lawmakers appointed to take Obama's seat until the next election, may throw the Senate for a loop.

Burris says that now that the public option has been emaciated to get Lieberman's support, he may very well vote no on the bill.